


Only Human

by fembuck



Category: Lovecraft Country (TV)
Genre: F/F, Femslash, Missing Scene Fic, leti be peeping again, pretty canon compliant, the songstress and her witch, the witch and her songstress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:01:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27053074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fembuck/pseuds/fembuck
Summary: What followed after Ruby dropped the “Christina will save, Dee - for me,” bomb on Atticus, Montrose, and Leti. Episode 1x09 “Rewind” missing scene.
Relationships: Christina Braithwhite/Ruby Baptiste, Ruby Baptiste/Christina Braithwhite
Comments: 26
Kudos: 211





	Only Human

**Author's Note:**

> Super quick turn-around on this one! Basically a one day fic. So please excuse me if there are more typos or errors than usual. I wanted to get it out before the episode on Sunday in case the episode emotionally devastates me, which has meant foregoing my usual editing process.

***

“Christina will save, Dee. For me.”

Atticus’s brows scrunched in confusion, and then lifted questioningly.

“Wait-” he began to say, looking up at Ruby. “What? Why?” he finally managed to choke out, utterly befuddled.

“They’re living together,” Leti muttered, and Ruby turned to glare at her while Montrose turned to look at Ruby, tilting his head to the side curiously as Atticus turned his attention to Leti.

“What?” he asked, throwing his hands up into the air. 

“She said we’re living together,” Ruby replied, still looking annoyed as she glared at Leti for a moment longer before turning to face Atticus. “She’s teaching me.”

“How to not give a straight answer to a question?” Atticus asked peevishly, tired of the endless parade of nonsensical bullshit that had become his life.

“Magic,” Ruby replied.

“You gotta live with her to learn that?!” Montrose questioned.

“Was I talking to you?” Ruby asked, rounding on Montrose and his crazy ass. “Am I ever talking to you?” she continued, before dramatically taking a deep breath, making sure Montrose knew how much effort it was taking for her not to beat his scrawny, ill-tempered little ass. “The point is,” Ruby began, turning to face Atticus, “Christina and I have … a rapport.”

“A _rapport_?” Atticus asked incredulously, turning to look at Leti to see if she found that as ridiculous as he did, only to find Leti not looking the least bit surprised by the nonsense that was coming out of her sister’s mouth. 

“Christina Braithwhite doesn’t do anything that doesn’t benefit Christina Braithwhite,” Atticus continued, standing and beginning to pace. “A rapport don’t mean shit. That woman ain’t gon’ do a damn thing without something being in it for her. So, what you got?” Atticus asked, placing his hands on his hips challengingly as he looked at Ruby. “What you got that she wants?”

Ruby was quiet for a moment, thinking.

“ _Damn_! Can ya’ll just, trust me?” Ruby asked finally, looking between Leti and Atticus. “I got this,” she insisted. “I have leverage.”

“But what is it?” Leti asked softly, her arms folded across her chest unhappily as she looked at her sister.

“It’s _my_ business! That’s what it is,” Ruby replied, puffing out a harassed sigh. “You don’t need to know. Just let me call her. I guarantee you, she’ll come. She’ll help.”

“Can we have a minute?” Leti asked, looking between Atticus and Montrose. “In private?”

Atticus looked for a moment like he might protest, but instead he just sighed and turned to look at Montrose, nodding his head to the side before heading for the stairs.

“It’s not _your_ business, either,” Ruby said once they were alone.

“You may not want it to be, but it is,” Leti replied. “You’re my sister. You can’t stop me from worrying about you.”

“Christina isn’t going to hurt me,” Ruby sighed, her shoulders relaxing a little in the face of Leti’s genuine, if misguided, concern for her.

“Why are you so certain of that?” Leti asked, her face conveying her utter bewilderment in the seemingly absolute faith Ruby was putting in this, literally, two-faced lily white witch.

“I’ve…” Ruby began, not quite sure how to go about explaining the relationship between her and Christina to another person when she barely understood it herself. “You met her as an adversary,” Ruby started, trying again. “I didn’t. I’ve seen parts of her you haven’t. Kind parts. Thoughtful parts. Empathic parts,” Ruby continued.

“ _Lying To Your Ass_ parts,” Leti pointed out. “She didn’t look like herself when you met her, did she? She looked like William. Yeah,” Leti drawled when she saw the look on Ruby’s face. “She looked like William. She was stalking us before Ardham. She _knew_ you’re a sucker for a tall, skinny papa, and that’s exactly what she gave you,” Leti continued knowingly, ignoring the way Ruby’s eyes narrowed at her as she laid down the truth and nothing but the truth, whether Ruby wanted to admit it or not. “She’s a manipulator. She’s … pathological!”

“I know,” Ruby replied, surprisingly Leti. “I know all about her fucked up childhood. I see the results of it. She doesn’t hide her messy, ugly parts from me. I know all about the shady things she’s done since you met her, about more than you do, actually,” Ruby continued calmly. “I know because she told me. Because she likes me. And respects me. And … and she doesn’t want me to leave.”

“Doesn’t want you to leave,” Leti repeated, shaking her head incredulously. “Why doesn’t that scare you? Why doesn’t it freak you the fuck out that this white woman is…”

“Because I know what she wants from me!” Ruby interjected sharply. “I know why she doesn’t want me to leave,” she continued. “She-” Ruby sighed. “She’ll do what I ask.”

Ruby lifted her hand to her head, and rubbed at her temple for a moment.

“It’s not sinister, Leti,” Ruby breathed out tiredly. “She’s a scheming little shit, but she’s still a person. She’s human. She has feelings.” Ruby breathed in and out deeply again, marshalling strength. “She…”

Ruby paused when Leti gasped, her eyes widening and her mouth opening in surprise as her brain finally put all of the bits and pieces of the story together into a cohesive narrative.

“She’s got the hots for you,” Leti whispered. “And you know, and you’re still living there with h…” Leti’s eyes widened even more, and then she released a disbelieving huff of air. 

“Leverage,” Leti muttered to herself as her mind continued to make connections. “Shit!” she exclaimed, releasing an incredulous burst of laughter. “You gon’ threaten to take away your honey pot?” Leti shook her head again. 

“So how’s it work over there in your manor on the Northside?” Leti continued, finally meeting Ruby’s eyes again. “Do you let her fuck you with both bodies, or just the one with a dick?” Leti asked derisively, the words tumbling out of her mouth before her brain had a chance to review them.

Ruby was still for a moment, staring unblinkingly at Leti, and then she exploded into movement, jabbing one of her fingers at Leti before coldly hissing, “Fuck you, Letitia,” at her, her voice rough with hurt and anger.

Then, without another word, Ruby turned from Leti and stormed off towards the kitchen and the telephone in it.

“Don’t!” Ruby said warningly a few moments later, turning to face Leti who had started to follow her. “I can’t with you right now. Why don’t you go check on Dysfunctional & Son, while I get Dee the help she needs,” she continued before turning away from Leti dismissively and disappearing into the kitchen.

“Fuck,” Leti sighed softly, her head dropping down despondently. 

_That could have gone better_ , she thought. 

But then again, there wasn’t really a guide for how to deal with your sister basically admitting that she’s fucking a shape-shifting white sorceress, so Leti supposed that she would be positive about things and thought, _but it also could've gone worse_ _._

* * *

“Are you hurt?” Christina asked with concern, making a beeline for Ruby the moment she entered the shop.

“No,” Ruby breathed out. “Really, I’m fine,” she continued when Christina continued to run her eyes over Ruby, her eyes filled with worry instead of the wanton heat Ruby was used to seeing as Christina looked over her for any sign of injury.

“No you’re not,” Christina observed a few seconds later, once she was satisfied that Ruby wasn’t physically hurt. “You’re scared,” Christina continued softly. “Why are you scared?” she asked, reaching out to take Ruby’s hand as she stepped closer to the songstress. “How do I take your fear away?” she asked.

“Diana,” Ruby began.

“George and Hippolyta’s daughter,” Christina said, nodding her head, her current location making much more sense to her. “What happened to her?”

“Something … magical,” Ruby replied, a bit of the helplessness they were all feeling showing in her tone. “Something is … taking her over,” she continued, shaking her head at a loss. “She can’t, or won’t speak, so … we don’t … we found some drawings she sketched, though,” Ruby went on, clutching at something they did have going for them. “She’s good. The pictures are detailed. We just don’t know what to look for, or what to do about it.”

“I can’t promise that I’ll be able to help her,” Christina began softly. “There are limits to my knowledge and capabilities, as much as it pains me to admit that,” she continued, “especially to you,” she added meaningfully. “But I can promise you that I will try my very best to help undo whatever has been done, and restore Diana to her natural state.”

“Thank you,” Ruby breathed out, feeling muscles she didn’t know had been tense begin to relax.

“Thank you for calling me,” Christina replied, “for trusting me.” 

Leti strained forward as much as she could without risking being seen, but she couldn’t hear a damn thing. If she couldn’t see Christina’s lips moving, she wouldn’t even have been able to tell that they were still talking.

“It means a lot to me,” Christina whispered.

“Me letting you do favours for me?” Ruby questioned dryly.

“Mm,” Christina hummed in agreement, swaying into Ruby, though Leti was relieved to see that Christina simply rested her forehead against Ruby’s. “I like to see you happy. I want to make you happy. And we both know, there are some ‘favours’ you let me do for you that I enjoy tremendously,” she whispered roughly. 

“Not the time or place for flirting,” Ruby noted softly.

“Will you come home with me? Once Diana is on the mend?” Christina asked. “I miss you.”

“You miss being inside me,” Ruby muttered softly, rolling her eyes.

“Yes,” Christina agreed, and despite herself Ruby found herself smiling for the first time in what seemed like days. “God yes,” Christina sighed. “But I’d settle for a song, and … a kiss goodnight?”

“Save Dee, and I’ll reacquaint you with all three,” Ruby promised, and Christina licked her lips before releasing a shuddering breath.

“YOU ABOUT READY DOWN THERE?” Leti called out, making ‘clomping’ sounds with her feet to make it seem like she was just now approaching the top of the stairs.

She couldn’t hear what they had been saying after Christina practically plastered herself against Ruby, and the eye-fucking and hand-holding that had been going on had been making her confused and uneasy. She didn’t want to know what was going to follow Christina licking her lips while looking at Ruby like _that_.

“Yeah!” Ruby called out, after taking a few steps back from Christina. “Goddamn! I was just filling her in,” Ruby continued, unable to see Leti practically roll her eyes out of her head in response, though she was able to see Christina smirk. 

“Come on,” Ruby said, speaking softly now as she turned to face Christina. “The sooner you get up there, the sooner we can go home.”

Christina smiled at her brightly, and then to Ruby’s amusement, she strode ahead of Ruby towards the staircase and - despite being in heels- ascended them rapidly, now very motivated to get started offering assistance.

The End

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! If you made it all the way to the end, I hope that means you enjoyed it!
> 
> 🙏*let's hope the finale clears our skin and waters our crops*🙏
> 
> Comments are always welcome, and are greatly appreciated! ❤️❤️❤️


End file.
